Former Bank Employee Charged with Embezzlement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2009

Urbana, Ill. – Trial has been scheduled in September 2009 for a former employee of Bank Champaign charged with embezzling funds from the bank. Taeya T. Cunningham, 22, of Rantoul, Illinois, made her initial appearance in federal court yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge David G. Bernthal.

A grand jury indicted Cunningham on June 17, 2009 on one count of bank embezzlement. The indictment alleges that when Cunningham was employed as a commercial loan administrator at Bank Champaign, from about October 9, 2007 to February 26, 2009, she embezzled approximately $16,000 from the bank.

Trial has been set for September 14, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey. Cunningham’s next scheduled court hearing is a pre-trial conference scheduled on September 3, 2009.

The charges were investigated by the Champaign Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronda Holliman Coleman.

If convicted, the offense of bank embezzlement carries a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and fines of up to $1,000,000. Final sentences are determined by the court. In imposing sentence, the court may consider federal sentencing guidelines, which include a defendant’s criminal history, the amount of loss, and other applicable factors.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.